1. The Field of the Invention
The field of the invention pertains to rectangular wooden needlework frame apparatus of the scroll-end type, in which the scrolls are of circular cross-section, are freely rotable of which are held apart by slidably adjustable transverse arms and in which the scrim or other base fabric material upon which art needlework, such as petit point, needlepoint, crewel, embroidery, longstitch, quilting and the like to be performed, are held. The fabric, of necessity, is substantially longer in its length than in its width and the excess, non-working portion of length is wound upon the scrolls. Other types of frame such as hoops which define a circular work area, or fixed frames, in the manner of picture frames, are also known in the art but present different problems than are addressed by the present invention.
2. Description of the Pior Art
Scroll frames have been found useful in the needlework art to mount the fabric which is usually, but not always, a coarsely woven fabric in which the strands of warp and weft are woven perpendicularly to each other and a design or key to be rendered by the worker is lightly imprinted thereover as a guide. It has proved essential that the work area defined between the scrolls and transverse arms must be stretched taut or under substantial tension to facilitate the stitchery and such that the perpendicular orientation of the strands, and the over printed key thereon, be maintained without distortion.
This has been attempted in various ways as, for example, tensioning the free edges of the work area by means of tacks receiving hooks, spikes or staples mounted on or driven into the transverse arms which hold the scrolls apart. U.S. Pat. No. 3,098,280 to Harris et al is a good example of the state of the art, as are the Creative Circle, 1982, catalogue page 34, item #NPFR; Mary Maxim, Inc., 1983, catalogue page 37, Item No. 051631; Cirriculum Resources, 1981/82, catalogue page 12, Item No. 56026; J. C. Penney, 1983 catalogue page 899; Item Nos. SWU 705-1965A, WU 705-0065A; Artcraft Concepts, Rev. 7/82, Flyer, Item No. 8101; copies of which are provided. The worker, in most of the instances cited, when wanting to change the work area must detach the tacks and re-install them after the work area is redefined by scrolling. This can cause damage to the fabric, a loss of perpendicularity and the creation of irregular tension in addition to the tedious problem of relocating the tacks with attendant damage to the transverse arm each time a change is made. Harris shows a small, book hinge-like device installed on the transverse arm which when closed will merely hold a central portion of the free edge by means of spikes located on the inner face of the hinge. The problems of perpendicularity and tension are, however, left to chance or are inadequately disposed of without substantial, slidable resetting of the space between the free edges held by transverse arms. The smaller central holding area taught by Harris et al, furthermore, leaves substantial portions of the free edge under less tension than that positioned under the hinge device. Therefore, substantial portions of the work area are not provided with transverse tension. Harris also teaches the use of spikes which can be damaging to the fabric and ignores the problem maintaining perpendicularity.
Known to the applicant, but without the specific reference available or even knowlege that it is, in fact, prior art, is the invention of another which in combination with the scrolls is a simple clamping device in the manner of a lady's skirt press in which two (2) essentially flat members attached to a transverse arm are pressed together by compression locking means, thereby holding the fabric in place. While no spikes or tacks are used in this method, the two essential desiderata of perpendicularity and uniform tension are attempted but achieved only partially.
The present invention eliminates all of the foregoing problems, provides a simple, quick means to shift work area and assures maintenance of the proper tension with no loss of perpendicularity or damage to the fabric.